WE ARE ALL SPACE TRAVELLERS!

We have all watched spectacular sunsets [and sunrises] but do any of you think that, as you watch our star dip below the horizon, you are actually travelling backwards at approximately 1000 miles per hour! [Our planet is roughly 24,000 miles in circumference and takes 24 hours to complete one revolution.]

Of course there is no sensation of movement because you and everything around you are moving at constant speed. Just like when you are on the motorway under cruise control at 70 mph, there is no sensation of speed until you accelerate or brake.

Further, not only are you travelling at 1000 mph backwards but you are also flying sideways at about 68,000 mph. We are 93 million miles from the sun and every year we travel about 580 million miles to complete one orbit.

Also our sun, with all its planets, is orbiting within the Milky Way galaxy at around 140 miles per second, which is 504,000 miles per hour.

And finally our galaxy is hurtling towards Andromeda at 1,342,800 mph and will collide with it in 4 billion years time.

So, as you read this post, you are going 1000 mph backwards, 68,000 mph sideways, half a million mph around the Milky Way and a staggering 1.4 million mph as you hurtle towards oblivion in Andromeda.

Hold onto your hat!

You truly are a space traveller.

If you would like to take a journey to the stars, then join my astronauts as Earth responds to an SOS from space. What will you find?